My top books of 2025 out of 114 books read (not even attempting narrowing down to three per category!):
Top adult fiction books of 2025:
- Atonement by Ian McEwan (bit late to the party on this one!)
- The Abundance by Amit Majmudar
- The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
- Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Bonus:
- The Party by Tessa Hadley (a novella)
Top adult speculative fiction reads of 2025:
- Reincarnation Blues by M Poore
- The Will of the Many by James Islington (looking forward to reading book 2 very soon)
- The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
- Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs
- On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle (looking forward to reading volume 2 very soon)
- Blood Over Brighthaven by M L Wang
Plus continuing Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive series (it'll take more than a year to work through these...)
My top 3 YA/teen reads of 2025:
- Cane Warriors by Alex Wheatle
- Face by Benjamin Zephaniah
- Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
- Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden
- Refugee by Alan Gratz
- Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D Taylor
My top children's books of 2025:
- A Drop of Golden Sun by Kate Saunders
- The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
- No Ballet Shoes in Syria by Catherine Bruton
- There’s a Boy in the Girl’s Bathroom by Louis Sachar.
Bonus non-fiction read:
- Peach Street to Lobster Lane by Felicity Cloake
My top books of 2024 out of 142 books read:
Favourite book of 2024:
- Lillian Boxfish Takes A Walk by Kathleen Rooney
Top 3 adult fiction books of 2024
- All the Broken Places by John Boyne (a very interesting and thought-provoking sequel to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas)
- Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
- Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
Top 3 adult speculative fiction reads of 2024:
- Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde who FINALLY wrote a sequel to A Shades of Grey - only waiting 13 years, Jasper....!
- The excellent Fifth Season trilogy by N K Jemisin
- loved continuing the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch, parciularly catching up on some of the novellas this year.
- BONUS: The Bees by Laline Paull
My top 3 YA/teen reads of 2024:
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
- Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson (love this writer...)
- Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon
My top children's books of 2024:
- Always Clementine by Carlie Sorosiak (she's featured here before!!)
- Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
- The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd
- The Wrong Shoes by Tom Percival
- The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell
And then a bonus mention to the author Ali Sparkes as I've enjoyed a number of her books this year!
My top books of 2023 out of 113 books read:
Favourite book of 2023:
- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Top 3 adult fiction books of 2023:
- The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
- The Offing by Benjamin Myers
- Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
Top 3 adult speculative fiction reads of 2023 (oops - I read too many good ones to narrow it down that much!):
- Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
- The Sword of Kaigen by M L Wang
- Arcadia by Iain Pears
- The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence
- Bonus: Perhaps the Stars by Ada Palmer (completing a fabulous and challenging quadrilogy!)
- Bonus 2!: To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers (a great little novella)
My top 3 YA/teen reads of 2023:
- Terciel and Elinor by Garth Nix (the next in his excellent Abhorsen series)
- The Light In Everything by Katya Balen
- The Cats We Meet Along The Way by Nadia Mikail
- And - as a bonus - About A Boy by Nick Hornby (not specifically YA but I’ll sneak it in as it’s very very good and sometimes included on Literature syllabuses!)
My top children's books of 2023:
- Alanna: The Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce
- The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong
- The Amazing Edie Eckhart by Rosie Jones
- When I See Blue by Lily Bailey
- Have Sword Will Travel by Garth Nix and Sean Williams
My top books of 2022 out of 111 books read:
Favourite book of 2021:
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann - worth the effort!
Top 3 adult fiction books of 2022:
- Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann
- Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
- A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
And a bonus non-fiction read: Nomadland by Jessica Bruder
Top 3 adult speculative fiction reads of 2022:
- Babel by RF Kuang
- The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
- Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel
Plus I really enjoyed continuing Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series, and Jodi Taylor's the St Mary's Chronicles...
My top 3 YA/teen reads of 2022:
- This Savage Song by VE Schwab
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
My top children's books of 2022:
- A Sea of Stars by Kate Maryon
- Check Mates by Stewart Foster
- Warrior Cats - Into the Wild by Erin Hunter
- Letters From the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll
My top books of 2021 out of 116 books read:
Favourite book of 2021:
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller - read it, read it, read it!!
Top adult fiction books of 2021:
- Jane Eyre (re-read)
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller - read it, read it, read it!!
- Transcription by Kate Atkinson
And a bonus non-fiction read: One More Croissant For The Road by Felicity Cloake (which I wish I’d thought of first!)
Top 3 adult speculative fiction reads of 2021:
- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab
- Last One at the Party by Bethany Clift
- Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor
Bonus: continuing the fun Chronicles of St Mary’s series by Jodi Taylor. Without fail, these books bring me joy every single time. May she never stop writing them...
My top 3 YA/teen reads of 2021:
- I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
- We Were Liars by E Lockhart
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
My top 3 children's books of 2021:
- My Life As A Cat by Carlie Sorosiak (still making me smile months later)
- Can You See Me? by Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott
- Voyage of the Sparrowhawk by Natasha Farrant